Review: The Language of Flowers

Victoria has been in the foster care system since birth. She uses her attitude as a barrier to keep anyone from getting close to her. At the age of 18, she’s emancipated with no job, no home, and no one to turn to. She starts out living in a park and after a few weeks, approaches Renata, a florist for a job. The florist discovers Victoria has a talent for flowers and takes her under her wing. When Victoria goes to the local flower market with Renata, she sees someone who makes her come to terms with a painful part of her past.

I cannot describe how much I loved The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh – it’s sure to be on my list of favorites for the year. This book is fraught with tension and emotion and it kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. A lot of the book is dark and foreboding, but it’s so well written I felt a range of emotions as I read it and shed a bucket of tears.

Oh, how I felt for Victoria! Since she was shuffled from home to home, she didn’t want to get close to anyone and put up a facade to keep those near her at arm’s length. She didn’t want to establish a relationship that wasn’t going to last. It wasn’t hard to understand why or to see that she really did have a softer side. Her love of plants and the language of flowers gave her more comfort than anything else and gave her a way to communicate with others. Victoria’s story is told in the first person and alternates between the present and ten years in the past and I loved both parts of the story equally. Renata and the other characters are fabulous as well – Renata was a little bit quirky but she believed in Victoria and I loved her for it.

The plot in this book is wonderful too. Readers discover early that Victoria is avoiding facing something big that happened in her life years ago, but it takes a while to figure out just what it was. I knew whatever it was had made a huge impact on Victoria’s life and not knowing was killing me. I needed to know and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough so I could find out. I really appreciated the way Diffenbaugh slowly revealed the truth. I gasped when I read what it was, but was completely satisfied in the end.

The Language of Flowers is really a story of love and forgiveness and it makes readers think about what constitutes a family. I loved this book and wish I had a hundred copies to give away. I’m having trouble articulating my feelings and I know I’m not doing this fantastic book justice but I highly recommend it and urge everyone who loves women’s fiction to read it.

My book club discussed this book and everyone loved it. Sometimes when that happens there’s not much to talk about, but we found plenty to discuss. I’d printed out these discussion questions, but we really didn’t need them.

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I have been wanting to read The Language of Flowers, so I’m glad to hear it’s good!

Kathy, This is going to sound mushy. But it’s the middle of the night and I’m sleepy. I just want you to know that I love your blog. I subscribe to your posts via email and while I don’t always have time to comment, I always read your reviews.

The time and effort you put into writing your reviews is evident and makes me aspire to be a better blogger. I hope we have a chance to see each other at BEA again this year.:) – Mandy

I’ve seen Language of Flowers around the blogosphere for awhile now, but would always just glance over the review. This time I really paid attention and now I totally want to read it! I’m a fan of women’s fiction but have a hard time really falling in love with a book from the genre. Thanks for the recommendation.

This was one of my favorites of the year as well, and I just loved the mix of pathos and hope that infused every page. It was a heartbreaking tale to read but one that ends with a modicum of hope. Excellent review today! You said it better than I ever could!

I’ve not heard ONE BAD THING about this book! Heather loaned it to me, but it got pushed to the back of the line because of other “have to read” commitments. I must get through those books and make this a priority.

This sounds like an amazing story. It seems as though I could relate to this story.. Victoria sounds like many of the children I work with, who are “in the system” and get shuffled around from home to home, residential care to residential care- with “big things” in their lives as well. I must get my hands on this!

i recently read a review about this book that was not a great one and was so disappointed…i’ve been wanting to read this book ever since i first heard of it ~ as i tend to like a lot of what you read and always place a lot of stock in your reviews, i’m happy to know you loved this one! thanks for sharing your thoughts and recommendation!

I’ve seen so many good reviews for this book (and was even offered a review copy but passed). I just had a feeling that it might not be a good fit for me. But then I see reviews like yours and feel like an idiot for passing on it. Yours might just be the review that pushes me to track down a copy.

I didn’t read your full review…yet but I did see that you loved this book. I will return to read your review in full after I read the copy I just received for review. I am so looking forward to this book!

I’m so glad to see you loved this book because I’ve been wanting to pick it up but haven’t read any reviews of it so I’ve been waiting. I will for sure get it next time instead of second guessing myself. 🙂